3-year-old left alone on NK school bus for half-hour

POULSBO - A North Kitsap school bus driver has been placed on administrative leave after failing to drop off a 3-year-old at school then unknowingly leaving her alone on the bus for at least a half-hour Wednesday morning.

The driver will remain on leave pending an investigation, the district stated.

"We're a little shaken up about the whole deal," said the girl's father, Jeff Schmatjen. "I've told the school district they can let drivers know that they don't need to pick her up ..."

On Wednesday, the driver picked up the girl at about 8:50 a.m. for morning preschool at Breidablik Elementary School, Schmatjen said.

The girl remained on the bus after the driver left the school and parked at the district's lot on Finn Hill.

The driver left the bus, and the girl was not discovered until another bus driver began prepping the bus for a later run. The district estimates that the girl was alone on the bus for 30 to 40 minutes.

Each day, and after each run, bus drivers are expected to follow a checklist of procedures, which includes walking the length of the bus to look for children or damage, said North Kitsap School District spokeswoman Robyn Chastain. All checklists are turned in at the end of the week, she said.

"We have a protocol. And if followed, incidents like this do not occur," Chastain said.

The district's longtime transportation director could not recall a student who had previously been left on a bus in North Kitsap, Chastain said.

Schmatjen said that after his daughter was found, she was driven to school more than an hour after class started.

He said he did not learn of the incident until receiving a call from district administrators around 11:30 a.m., after his daughter was already on a bus home.

Chastain said the district repeatedly tried to call, but was unable to reach the girl's parents until then.

"We sincerely regret that this incident occurred and want you to know that we take this situation and the safety of all students very seriously," Assistant Superintendent Chris Willits wrote in an email to Breidablik parents Wednesday evening.

Schmatjen said his daughter was fine, though the same can't be said of her parents.

He said he wonders why the teacher didn't call when his daughter didn't show up for school or when she appeared so late, and feels the bus driver wasn't doing her job.

For now, he said, he wants other parents to know.

"I'm sure at some point, we'll put her on a bus again, but it's going to take some time," he said.